With my 16 ft spey rods I'm picking up about 68 ft of line and a 20 ft of leader when the cast starts. I shoot about another 30 to 40 ft of line on the cast, but I should really pull it all in and measure it some day. There are not many unreachable rocks in the river I fish. If I'm really trying to max things, I may have 3 or 4 loops of shooting line resting in the water, and another 2 or 3 loops in my mouth.
Maxing distance though is often less than rewarding. With steelhead, takes are often undetected until the weight is there. I've hooked some way out there, but they often break off because I can't get all of that cross current line out of the water. That current alone is enough to break tippets even when a fish is simply holding.
Last edited by 1minute; 05/30/17.
